Taleban fighters' release delayed after US protest: official

KABUL (AFP) - Afghan President Hamid Karzai has delayed the release from jail of 88 suspected Taleban fighters following complaints from the United States that they could return to the battlefield, officials said on Saturday.

The planned release had angered US military commanders and senators as Washington and Kabul edge closer to signing a long-delayed security pact allowing some American soldiers to stay in Afghanistan after 2014.

"Based on a recent president's order, we have started again reviewing the cases of the 88 prisoners," Mr Abdul Shokur Dadras, a member of the Afghan Review Board, told AFP.

"The president has also ordered the security and intelligence agencies to check their backgrounds and cases to make sure justice is served."